There is very little economic gain to be had by hosting giant sporting events, writes economist Dennis Coates. So why do countries — and Australia is as guilty as the rest of them — continue to overbid for them?

The Olympics isn’t the only sporting event with dodgy mascots, with the FIFA World Cup emerging trumps in creating mascots of national stereotype. Like Mexico in 1986, who had a sombrero wearing jalapeño.

Soccer (or “football” to you purists) is rife with match fixing, and author Declan Hill has put his life at risk exposing it. He explains how the games are rigged and why the World Cup is a fertile field for bribery and buy-outs to flourish.

If Australia wins its bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022, it will come at a cost to the AFL, which will lose potential future stars to the rival code and space for new footy ovals, says Sam Wylie.

Australian sport’s slumbering behemoth, the fledgling national soccer competition – the A-League – begins its new season tonight in Sydney, aiming to build on credibility it has garnered over the past two seasons, writes Charles Happell.